“It is difficult to realise the true Way just through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things.”
Go Rin No Sho (1645)
Context: The Way is shown in five books concerning different aspects. These are Ground, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void.
The body of the Way of strategy from the viewpoint of my Ichi school is explained in the Ground book. It is difficult to realise the true Way just through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. As if it were a straight road mapped out on the ground, the first book is called the Ground book.
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Miyamoto Musashi 100
Japanese martial artist, writer, artist 1584–1645Related quotes
Go Rin No Sho (1645), The Book No-Thing-ness
Context: Until you realise the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at things objectively, from the viewpoint of laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way. Know well this spirit, and with forthrightness as the foundation and the true spirit as the Way. Enact strategy broadly, correctly and openly.
Then you will come to think of things in a wide sense and, taking the void as the Way, you will see the Way as void.
In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness.
“The world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don't know.”
1840s, Past and Present (1843)
“Just because you know a thing is true in theory, doesn't make it true in fact.”
Source: Deathworld (1960), p. 151
Context: Just because you know a thing is true in theory, doesn't make it true in fact. The barbaric religions of primitive worlds hold not a germ of scientific fact, though they claim to explain all. Yet if one of these savages has all the logical ground for his beliefs taken away — he doesn't stop believing. He then calls his mistaken beliefs 'faith' because he knows they are right. And he knows they are right because he has faith. This is an unbreakable circle of false logic that can't be touched. In reality, it is plain mental inertia. A case of thinking 'what always was' will also 'always be.' And not wanting to blast the thinking patterns out of the old rut.
Variant: Big things are often just little things that people notice.
Source: I Am the Messenger
Reported in Jay Babcock, " MUSIC IS NEVER WRONG: A visit with Josh Homme & John Paul Jones of Them Crooked Vultures http://www.arthurmag.com/2009/10/15/them-crooked-vultures/", Arthur Magazine (October 15, 2009).
Go Rin No Sho (1645), The Fire Book
“Small minds are hurt by the smallest things”
Les petits esprits sont blessés des plus petites choses
Maxime 34 from the 1705 Amsterdam edition https://books.google.com/books?id=pBJgAAAAcAAJ&q=%22des+plus+petites+choses%22#v=snippet&q=%22des%20plus%20petites%20choses%22&f=false
Later Additions to the Maxims
“There's fence against all things except death.”
Lexicon Tetraglotton (1660)